BELLICIST, the new band featuring former
RECIPROCAL bassist
Brent Glover and ex-
CRUSHING SKULLS guitarist
Michael Osborn, has posted a "very rough" version of the song
"The Iscariot Path" on the group's
MySpace page . The band says, "This has minimal mixing, and
Brent's vocals aren't on here yet, but it's up."
According to the group's official bio, "
BELLICIST formed in concept in 2001.
Osborn was playing in a thrash/death metal band in central Missouri when he began writing a series of songs that were faster, more technical, and significantly differing (both lyrically and musically) in approach than his main band,
RALPHUS. The name
BELLICIST (def: warmonger) was chosen and rough demos were recorded with Michael handling all instruments. After exiting
RALPHUS in early 2003, the idea and namesake were put on indefinite hold due to the formation of the progressive metal band
STULL. The previously demoed songs would never be released as
Michael decided the material lacked in strength and wasn't worth recording at that time. Fast forward to 2006.
Michael was playing in the Los Angeles technical death metal band
CRUSHING SKULLS with bassist
Brent Glover. Both had been writing material that simply didn't fit with their current outfit (which was on a steady decline at that point) for some time and the idea was posed to form another band. This band would have to be far faster, more complex, and extremely aggressive in scope; both in music and ideology. Thus,
BELLICIST was reborn.
CRUSHING SKULLS' demise came in late 2006 with
Michael eventually moving back to Missouri, and
Brent relocating to North Carolina; interrupted briefly by a short stint in former
C.S. bandmate
Alex Crescioni's
RECIPROCAL. Material is currently being composed and arranged by the duo with a tenative 2009 release in mind. Hyperspeed drumming, multiple time signature shifts, shredding guitar and bass solos, and venomous lyrics dealing with everything from politics and philosphy to the idiocy of mankind should be expected."